Combination can opener and handle



June 21, 1955 P. KRIVANEK 2,711,016

COMBINATION CAN OPENER AND HANDLE Filed July 8, 1954 INVENTOR ALBERT P. KRIVANEK ATTORNEYS United States Patent 0 COMBINATION CAN OPENER AND HANDLE Albert P. Krivanek, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application July 8, 1954, Serial No. 442,156

2 Claims. (Cl. 30-123) This invention appertains to a combination opener and detachable handle for tin cans of the type employed for liquids, such as beverages, fruit juices etc.

One of the primary objects of my invention is to provide a can opener for puncturing the top of a can having connected therewith an operating handle mounted in such a manner that after the opening of the can the same can be swung down into frictional resilient 3.

vicle a manipulating handle formed from bowed resilient material having a right angularly extending leg on its outer end and a pivoted can puncturing device on its inner end, so that the handle can be swung to one position for facilitating the operation of puncturing the can and then thereafter swung down alongside of the can with the handle under tension to hold the leg in gripping contact with the side of the can below the can puncturing device.

A still further object or" my invention is to provide a combination and handle for cans of the above character, which will be durable and efiicient in use, one that will be simple and easy to manufacture and one which can be placed upon the market at a reasonable cost and which can be conveniently carried in the pocket without danger of injury to the pocket.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which drawing,

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of my improved device showing the same positioned on a can ready for puncturing the can, parts of the can being shown broken away and in section;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 and showing the device on the can after the puncturing thereof;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view showing the handle of the device swung down alongside of the can to form the hand grip;

Figure 4 is a top plan view showing the device applied to the can and the position thereof after the puncturing of the can, the device also illustrating one preferred means of puncturing the can to facilitate the drinking or pouring out of the can, and

Figure 5 is a detail fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter D generally indicates my improved combination opener and handle for a can C.

handle to cut the can top.

The can C forms no part of the present invention and is of the type now commonly employed for beverages, fruit juices and the like. Hence, the can includes a cylindrical side wall 10, top and bottom walls 11 and upper and lower beads 12.

The improved device D comprises an opener 13 having a flat shank 14. The forward end of the shank is provided with a curved triangular shaped sharpened puncturing blade 15 and the shank adjacent to the blade has struck out therefrom a hook 16. This can opener or puncturing device is also of a type now commonly used, and hence forms no part of the invention per se.

In accordance with my invention, I employ a handle 17 formed from a strip of relatively heavy gauge resilient material and this handle 17 includes a bowed hand grip portion 18. Formed on the outer end of the hand grip portion 18 is a substantially right angularly extending leg 19. The extreme outer end of the leg 19 is preferably curved as at 20, to conform to the curvature of a side wall of a can. The inner end of the hand grip portion 18 has formed thereon a bent back arm 21 which extends at an acute angle of substantially 45 degrees to the hand grip portion 18. This arm is placed in facial parallel relation to the shank 14 and is operatively connected thereto by a pivot pin 22. Hence, the handle 17 can be turned on the shank to different positions as will be later brought out. The pivot pin 22 can be in the nature of a rivet and by referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3, it can be seen that the terminals of the rivet are upset to hold the opening device 13 on the handle.

In use of my device and when it is desired to puncture a can, the handle 17 is swung on the shank 14 to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, whereby the handle will extend outwardly away from the shank. The device can now be used in the ordinary manner for puncturing a can, namely, the hook 16 is engaged with the upper rim or bead 12, after which the triangular shaped knife is brought down by an upward movement of the It is preferred (see Figure 3) to make two punctures 23 and 24 in the top wall 11 of the can at right angles to one another, and when the second puncture has been made and the opener has been swung to the position shown in Figure 2, the handle 17 is then swung on the pivot 22 down alongside of the can. When the leg 19 engages the can, the hand grip portion 18 is placed under tension and hence the forward end of the leg is urged into gripping contact with the side wall of the can (see Figure 3). This effectively holds the device on the can and the handle can now be used to manipulate the can either for pouring purposes or for drinking purposes. Obviously, the puncture 23 in the top of the can 11 forms the pouring or drinking opening. The device can be readily removed from the can by merely swinging the handle 17 away from the side of the can.

It is to be noted that when the device is used for puncturing the can, that upward movement on the handle will increase the bow or tension on the hand grip portion 18, consequently, the tendency of the hand grip portion to straighten out under continuous use of springing the leg 19 into engagement with the side of the can is eliminated.

Great stress is laid on the fact that the device can be associated with different sizes of cans, and it is immaterial where the leg 19 grips the can and the device is so proportioned that this leg will always grip the can at a predetermined point below the top of the can.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or the scope of this invention, but what I claim as new is:

1. A combined can opener and handle comprising a Patented June 21, 1955.

handle member including a resilient hand grip portion, ail 'afi'giiliir'ly extendin arm on the forward end of said portion and a substantially right angularly extending leg on the outer end of said portion, and a can puncturing device including a shank disposed in facial relation to the arm, a curved can puncturing'knife and a can rim engaging hook on the shank adjacent to said knife; and a pivot pin connecting the shank and arm together, whereby said handle can be swung to one position out- 4 wardly away from the shank and to a second position downward below the shank.

2. A combined can opener and handle as defined in claim 1 and said portion being bowed and a forward end of said leg being curved to conform to the curvature of the side wall of a can.

No references cited. 

